It’s only the 2nd day of the year, nice easy Saturday night full of peppermint candy, Lana Del Rey and sleeping dogs.
Last night was Sherlock’s ‘The Abominable Bride’ (which was better than all of S3 put together, and I loved S3), and this afternoon was ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ with my almost-8-yr-old son in his Darth Vader sweatshirt and my cool-as-hell hubby (and it was GREAT! I was afraid to hope, after the prequels). So. I’m high on Moriarty and Chewbacca.
The year ahead lies sprawled in an almost impossible glowing light. These Lite Brite blips of things to come, and they seem too good to be true:
the first edition of Menacing Hedge I’ve worked on as full-fledged co-fiction editor with my incestuous sibling Craig Wallwork, out pretty much anytime – and conspiring with the beautiful crew there
more and more unbelievable announcements about the Gutted:Beautiful Horror anthology – just a lil ole book coming out this year with me in it….AND Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Paul Tremblay, Damien Angelica Walters, Richard Thomas…that’s not even all!! It’s just too hard to type out all the names, and they’re not even DONE with the ToC!
AWP LA, which I guess is some sort of “conference” or something, but whatever – I’ll be spending April Fool’s Day in California with the crew that welcomed me into the bosom of ‘Warmed and Bound’ nearly five years ago, only that crew times ten…ocean and bowling and books with some of the best people I’ve ever met or am about to
Tentative plans for a vast and ambitious family vacation that, worst case scenario, would take place next summer instead of this one
Tentative plans to finish a semi-vast and very-ambitious linked short story collection surrounding the concept of Frankenstein’s Monster and the freedom from the burden of chronological memory…that, worst case scenario, will be completed next summer instead of this one (it would take some massive laziness to drag out an entire extra year)
Jewelry – Jewelry!! Work!! They call it work, I call it a kitchen and laboratory full of adoptive family, gems, and magic lasers and elf-sized tools. They let me hang out there, and talk about movies and gold and life, and pay me for it…
my son and I have started the Harry Potter series, a mere two hours ago, and he’s into it
Richard Thomas has extracted a promise for a story from me for Gamut, which seems like something I should have to fight to get into
Craig Clevenger wants to podcast with me for a couple guest episodes of Booked.
My sister is going to give me another niece or nephew – another minion for my son!
Can I just stop there, and take a breath?
My fear is justified, yes?
Because this is my life, and I want to deserve it. I want to deserve the people and the love and the pictures in my brain and the roof over my head and the happiness,
and I don’t want to take a breath, or cough, for fear I’ll wake….
So, before I do, in this world now I want to say: I love you all. I appreciate you all. You’re heavy and light and wispy and warm in your love and support and confidence and laughter and conspiratorial smiles. My family, my friends, my work family, my writing , my reading compadres, my Sherlock-fiends, my fellow mothers of beautiful strong babes, my ladies in the shadows that whisper to me that I’m good enough.
Thank you. By the Stars and the Moonlight and the magic of breathing, I wish you all as beautiful a 2016 as you’ve made possible for me, just by being a part of my life.
the video!!! took forever to get this mess uploaded. i realize it’s an hour long, but at least stick around long enough for the church fire anecdote… plus i read a story. mainly i ramble. but i think it turned out pretty well!
World Book Day??!! hell yeah. awesome excuse to make book lists.
Top 5 Go-Tos for Random Infusions of Beauty
Sometimes I need icebears and sometimes I need Mario to tell me about the fans’ sounds at night… these are my shelf-grabs for snippet reading or total re-ingestion
1. Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
2. The Strangeness of Beauty – Lydia Minatoya
3. Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
4. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
5. East of Eden – John Steinbeck
Top 5 Quickest Reads in the Past Year
There’s no way to list the best things I’ve read, there are WAY too many. But for what it’s worth, I devoured these in just a couple days apiece, and I think that says plenty about them. In order beginning with the speediest:
1. Growing Up Dead In Texas – Stephen Graham Jones
2. Full Dark, No Stars – Stephen King
3. Nod – Adrian Barnes
4. Murder and Other Distractions – Michael Estrin
5. The Sound of Loneliness – Craig Wallwork
5 Self-Pimps Because Why Not? I’m Proud to Be In This Stuff
1. Warmed and Bound – “The World Was Clocks” available now
2. In Search of a City: Los Angeles in 1000 Words – “Gilded Bones” available now
3. cutaway – “The Cabbage Muse” available now
4. Cipher Sisters – “Asymmetry” (and co-editor) coming very soon
5. The Booked. Anthology – “Short Tendon” coming very soon
P.S. to this list, still a year in the future so can’t really gloat about it just yet – Burnt Tongues – “The Line Forms on the Right” coming summer 2014
around midnight, i’m sitting on the couch with my suitcase next to me (closed to keep the damned cat out) charging my camera battery, killing time…
i put everything in my tote in ziploc baggies. seriously,once you get started with that regulation shit you can’t stop. it’s like, well, if you need to see my toothpaste and concealer then i will use that excuse to be able to easily locate my phone charger.
quite a group. trying not to be distracted by stupid shit like layovers and don’t-forget lists and not getting laid (you know who you are) and alliteration. i need sleep, and to not drink on the plane. i need to arrive without that dolly parton lipstick look.
my shoes are so pretty i want to take pictures of them.
i might not be cool enough to go, but i’m definitely dorky enough. and in addition to being cool these are a bunch of lovable raging dorks. making the world worthwhile in crisp and unfamiliar dress-up clothes, scribbling in secret and confessing on the internet, throwing paper in the wind and pulling ourselves from our comfort zones – with a distinct velcro sound – to meet intimate strangers and giggle uncomfortably until the words start to flow. this will be a night of overlapping and fervent conversations, and i would bet ten bucks (anyone taking?) at least one child is conceived.
anyone wants to talk about the X-files or why alex trebek IS in fact not only a suitable but IDEAL life partner, i’m your girl. wanna buy me a jack and coke? also your girl.
holy shit. i’m excited. if i had a better word i would use it. maybe if it were capitalized:
(first in a series of 8 stories/posts on Thundadome featuring authors from Warmed and Bound – next on Monday, by Chris Deal!! also i’ll be doing the accompanying site photos for the stories – EXCEPT this one, sorry craig, i begged in late for the job)
also, i took the photos at 0:07 and 1:05 – jon, don’t be pissed. you’ve been immortalized. plus i love you. and that means you have to forgive everything. well, the love and that your dog ate all my vonneguts…. and the black eye!!
who am i kidding?? this weekend IS the peak of my summer.
wait – the Release Party is coming up. holy hell – how is this ALL happening in one summer? next summer is fucked. it might as well give up and plan now, in its sour grapes way, on just being lazy and quiet.
while Warmed and Bound was shocking the hell out of us all by being so damned respectable and beautiful, i was running around in the sun dressed as a pirate. and my family of pirates were buying books, bless their hearts. out of the box, i have 4 left.
Miss Ohio 